How Succsessful was mussolini in his foreign policy aims?
...re position in Europe in 1922 it was “unable to exert a great deal of influence” Robson. In 1923 Mussolini tried his hand at trying to make Italy storm on to the European stage and make the country “great , respected and feared” when an Italian general and four of his staff was assassinated while his team was surveying the Greek-Albanian border , upon hearing about this assassination Mussolini Blamed the Greek government and demanded an apology along with 50 million lire in compensation , the Greek government refused and so Mussolini bombed and occupied the Greek island of Corfu . The European powers , with Britain and the mighty Mediterranean fleet demanded Italy Withdraw , Mussolini had little choice and even though he did receive the 50 million lire compensation , he did not receive the apology from the Greeks . This was hailed in Italy as a success for dynamic Fascism but this attempt to fulfil the policy of making Italy great respected and feared was a complete failure and gave Italy a ‘bully’ like image, and also highlighted the fact that Italy was considerably weaker than the major powers. “Mussolini might be able to bully smaller powers , but he was unable to stand up to the great powers” Robson. This was also a failed attempt to expand Italy’s influence over the Balkans , in fact it damaged Italy’s reputation and reduced the likelihood that Italy would have any influence over the balkans Mussolini’s one dream was to , as said before was to expand his empire to rival that of the great roman Emperor Julius Caesar , and this ‘empire expansion’ began with the signing of the Pact of Rome in 1924 where Italy received Fiume , an Italian speaking town on the coast of Yugoslavian coast , this also increased the sphere of influence over the Balkans that Mussolini so Badly wanted , because Mussolini resented the influence that France had over Yugoslavia , and the signing of this treaty also made Mussolini realise that maybe Yugoslavia could be pushed around and so he could further extend his influence there. This was a foreign policy success in the point of view that since Italy was the dominant influence in that region , the Italians could make life very difficult for the Yugoslavians if they tried to resist Italian influence . Another opportunity arose to spread the Italian influence in and around the Balkans in 1924 when an Italian sponsored local chieftain , Ahmed Zog , managed to take power in Albania which is on the south border of Yugoslavia , Mussolini’s involvement in this was that the fascist government supplied Zog with money and encouraged Italian businesses to invest in the Albanian Economy . Even though Mussolini did not take over Yugoslavia immediately , Italy was poised to take over Yugoslavia when it was defeated by the Germans , during the second world war, further spreading Italy’s sphere of influence over the Balkans Mussolini become increasingly involved in many European affairs and was invited to attend many important meetings and treaties such as the Locarno treaty which fixed the western borders of Germany Belgium and France in which Italy was asked to be a guarantor along with Britain , Also Italy entered the Kellog-Briand pact which outlawed war , even though “ Mussolini had little interest in such treaties” Robson it actually partially helped one of his foreign policy ideas of making Italy , great , respected and feared , Italy actually entering into these treaties partially increased the amount of respect Italy received , and it also greatly increased his power and prestige at home. Another example of Mussolini expanding his sphere of influence over the balans was when he signed a treaty of friendship in 1927 which was another revisionist state and his fascist government also funded the right wing groups in Germany , in the hope that a fascist government might come into power there , he was successful in that aspect because Adolf Hitler eventually came into power and became , for a short time , the dominant power in Europe, so Mussolini had succeeded in spreading the fascist idea , but unfortunately for Mussolini he was not the leader of this movement. There had long been tension between the African country of Ethiopia and Italy, there was a humiliating defeat for the Italian army at Adowa in 1896 , a successful conquest of Ethiopia would increase Mussolini’s power and prestige in Italy and hopefully , this would make Italy look strong , following Mussolini’s foreign policy aim of making Italy great , respected and feared , even thought Italy had signed a treaty of friendship with Ethiopia in 1828 Mussolini used an incident which was a border dispute in December 1934 and immediately or...